40-08-28 Uncle Fletcher Speaks

STARRING: BERNARDINE FLYNN, BILL IDELSON AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

Clarence Hartzell

The arrival of Uncle Fletcher on Vic and Sade must have been almost freaky.  Imagine listening to the show for so many years (by the time this episode aired, it had been on the air more than eight years) and suddenly you are introduced to perhaps the strongest character in the history of radio plays.

Actor Clarence Harztell would play the part of Sade's Uncle Fletcher.  When he was on the radio, especially his first three years as the character, the shows were outstanding, with memorable moments abounding.

This episode has him simply being himself - and that's a handful for Sade and Rush to handle.

SEE SOME DIALOGUE AND THE SYNOPSIS

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Out of all of the audio episodes that are missing, this one might be the one we wish we had.  Hartzell must have played his Uncle Fletcher character to it's zenith in this episode, or it certainly seems to read that way when you see all the goofy things he says and does in the partial script and synopsis.  Hartzell had just been hired and Bill Idelson and Bernardine Flynn pulled hard for him to be on the show. You almost feel like this was a time when the cast knew that 'radio magic' was taking place.  That being, of course, those moments we hear that seem to resonate forever.

One thing for sure, he likes popcorn.

Trivia:

+ Uncle Fletcher gets up at 5 AM each morning and the Gooks seem to say they don't get up until 8 AM.

+ It doesn't stop there - Fletcher enjoys conversing with himself to 'clear the cobwebs' in the early early hours.

+ There are few things funnier than Uncle Fletcher hanging up on a telephone caller.  It happens in this episode to Ruthie.

+ Fletcher made a mess of the kitchen faucets, yard, swing, Mis' Donahue's flower garden, house... and no telling what else.